The stock market continued to gain ground at midday on Thursday, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) participated in the modest rally. Slightly before noon EDT, the index was up just over half a percent, as was the Nasdaq 100 Index of top stocks on the exchange. Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY) and Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) rose for different reasons, but their gains were among the leaders in the Nasdaq 100 and showed the broad-based support that the rally has had recently.

Amgen has challenged Alexion’s exclusive rights to its blockbuster drug Soliris, a move that has been a significant worry for Alexion investors. A judge wrote Wednesday that the parties have reached an agreement in principle.

The latest 13F reporting period has come and gone, and Insider Monkey is again at the forefront when it comes to making use of this gold mine of data. Insider Monkey finished processing 821 13F filings submitted by hedge funds and prominent investors. These filings show these funds' portfolio positions as of March 31st, 2020. […]

Health care, one of the largest and most complex sectors, is comprised of a broad range of companies that sell medical products and services. The health care sector includes companies that sell drugs, medical devices, and insurance, as well as hospitals and health care providers. Health care stocks, as represented by the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV), have outperformed the broader market, providing investors with a total return of 16.3% compared to the S&P 500's total return of 5.9% over the past 12 months.﻿﻿ In 2020, health care stocks have recouped nearly all of their losses since their March plunge while the broader market continues to suffer from the global coronavirus pandemic.﻿﻿ The market performance numbers and the statistics in the tables in this story are as of May 20.

"The best approach for the Company and its stakeholders is the immediate exploration of a sale," Elliott Associates said in the letter, made public one day before Alexion's annual shareholder meeting. Rather than consider a sale, Alexion has been on an acquisition spree, seeking to diversify its research pipeline, deals the hedge fund criticized in the letter. Elliott said it had waited months for CEO Ludwig Hantson's "go-it-alone" approach to gain traction and is speaking out now after he announced plans to buy Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. Alexion shares tumbled on the announcement last week, erasing approximately $1.7 billion from the company's market capitalization in one day.

Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.